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Bitter gourd Chips - Pavakkai Varuval

Bitter melon is rich in nutrients and has lot of medicinal uses. It is called as pavakkai or paakharkai in tamil, Kaakarakaya in telugu and Karela in Hindi. I usually prepare pavakkai poriyal and to reduce bitterness I add tomato and jaggery. Last week my mom tried this bitter melon chips and told it was a big hit. I was keep on asking her only one thing, how about bitterness in the dish. She told the deep fry has reduced the bitterness a lot. Enjoy this pavakkai varuval as a side dish to Rice especially with curd rice. Please check below for step wise instructions and pictures for making Bitter melon chips.

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10mins

Ready In: 25 mins

Yields: 2 Servings

Ingredients:

Oil

For Deep Fry

Medium size bitter melon

2

All purpose flour / Maida

1 tbsp

Rice Flour

1 tbsp

Corn flour

1 tsp

Turmeric

1/4 tsp

Coriander powder

1 tsp

chilli powder

2 tsp

Salt

Instructions:

Wash bitter melon and remove the two end parts. Slice into very thin pieces. Remove the seeds inside.

In a bowl, mix all purpose flour, rice flour, corn flour, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and salt. Add the sliced bitter melon pieces. If needed sprinkle some water and coat the bitter melon pieces. Allow it to marinate for 15 minutes.

Heat enough oil to deep fry. To check whether oil is hot, drop a little piece of karela into oil. If it bubbles up on top, then oil is hot.When the oil is hot, fry till the bitter melon turns golden colour. Remove the excess oil by placing it in paper towel.